Elastic-fluid turbine.



R. HARRISON. ELASTIG FLUID TURBINB. APPLIGATIN FILED 0CT.8, 1910.

,e 150110,905. `Patented 1260.5, 1911..

RI HARRISON. ELASTIG FLUID TURBINE.

AP1L IOATION FILED 00T. 8, 19101 Fig.

2 SHEET-SHEBT 2. v

. 4)' C' 1 1 N70/Mfrs CULUMBIA PLANDURAPH CO., WASHINUTON, D. C.

Patented 1160.5, 1911.

RICHARD HARRISON, F LONDON, ENGLAND.

ELASTIC-FLUID TURBINE.

Y Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

Application led October 8 1910. Serial No. 5786,000.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD HARRISON,

. a subject of the Kingof Great Britain, and

resident of 58 Chancery Lane, in the county of London, England, engineer, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elastic-Fluid Turbines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention refers to improvements in elastic fluid turbines and the only form of l turbine to whichv the said invention is applicable comprises a rotor mounted upon a shaft and revolving -within a fixed cylin drical casing, and depending for its action upon the impact and continued action,v

through a largearo of rotation, of two or more steam jets issuing in a substantially tangential direction from the cir-,` cumference of the rotor or the casing and acting upon vanes or abutments formed upon or fixed to the inner circumference of the cylindrical casing or the periphery of the rotor as the case may be, the steam nozzles, exhaust openings, and vanes or abutments'being arranged in such a manner that no exhaust opening shall be open to any section of the annular channel between theI cylindrical casing andthe rotor until the steam has been cut off from such section.

vIn turbines of this type the number ofexkhaust openings must be equal to thaty of the nozzles and the number of vanes or abut-1v ments must be double that of either.

And j exhaust openings, and the circumferential length of each vane or abutment must be such that the exhaust opening is covered Vby it before the adjoining and corresponding' nozzle is opened by the adjoining vane or abutment.

The said vanes or abutments areso placed and are of such a number that the annular channel between the rotor and the casing is divided into a series of equal sec tions, which sections are of considerablen length so that the steam after admission may,

it passes to the exhaust, in contradistinction `act through a considerable distance, before to the steam action being restricted to momentary impacts.

The invention has for its object to pro.

duce an efficient turbine of simple and strong tion corresponding to the arc formed by one section of the annular ohannel,the exhaust steam passes away from the said section of the annular channel through the first exv haust opening and is led by means of a suitable connecting channel to the second nozzle and, having acted upon a vane or abutment, passes away from that section of the annular channel through the second exhaust opening, and so on through the requisite number of nozzles until the last exhaust opening is reached, whence it is led through a suitable pipe ory channel to a condenser or to the outer air.

Each nozzle is so formed and adjusted, and the number of nozzles employed is such, that the steam shall be so expanded in each successive nozzle that the desired pressure and the same velocity shall be attained at the mouth of each nozzle, and that each nozzle shall pass a like weight of steam, and that the desired total expansion of the steam shall be eected.

Means may be provided for the purpose of maintaining the temperature of the steam during itspassage through the turbine, such as by jacketing the turbine or any part or parts thereof with live steam.

The steam supplied to the initial nozzle and to the steam jacket may be superheated.

The mouths of the nozzles are preferabjy of the same width as the annular channe It has been proposed to construct elastic fluid turbines with pockets formed upon the periphery of the rotor, or upon the inner circumference of the casing, and to bring two or more of the said pockets into connection during the revolution of the rotor, by means yofchannels formed either in the casing or in the body of the rotor. Such inventions were not, however, applied to turbines of the type to which the present invention is only applicable, neither were the means adapted for carrying out the said proposals similar to the arrangement hereinbefore described.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings which are diagrammatic and from which the nature of my invention will be more clearly understood.

Figure 1 is a transverse section of a turbine constructed in accordance with this invention, in which the steam nozzles and exhaust openings are formed in the cylindrical casing and the vanes or abutments on the periphery of the rotor. Fig. 2 is a longi tudinal section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of a similar type of turbine to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but having the steam nozzles and exhaust openings formed in the rotor and the vanes or abutments on the cylindrical casing. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 1 1, Fig. 3. Fig. `5 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 2 2, Fig. 3.

The same reference letters indicate like parts in all the gures.

a is the rotor mounted upon a shaft c revolving in bearings m formed integrally with the side covers of the cylindrical casing b. The annular channel between the rotor a and the cylindrical casing b is divided into sections al, a?, a3 and at by the vanes or abutments d1, d2, d3 and d4.

g is the live steam inlet.

g1 is the first and g2 the second nozzle.

e1 and e2 are the irst and second exhaust openings respectively, and h3 is the final exhaust opening to a condenser or to the atmosphere.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the rotor a is mounted upon the shaft c and has formed on or fixed to its periphery, vanes or abutments d1, cl2, (Z3 and Clt. The casing Z) consists of a cylindrical shell and two side covers. The first and second nozzles g1, g2 and the exhaust openings el, e2 are in the cylindrical shell, and the side covers of the casing Z9 carry the bearings mv in which the shaft c rotates. A suitable connecting channel h1 serves to lead the exhaust steam from the exhaust opening el to the second nozzle g2. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, each section of the annular channel is formed by the periphery and side flanges of the rotor a and the inner circumference of the cylindrical shell of the casing b and two vanes or abutments. The rotor a with its vanes or abutments all, d2, d3, d4 is of such dimensions that it shall revolve freely within the casing b but with a minimum clearance in order that friction and leakage losses may be minimized. The action of the turbine constructed as lastly described is as follows Live steam passes from the inlet passage g to the initial nozzle g1 in which it is expanded to the desired degree, and the issuing jet impinges upon the vane or abutment Z1 and continues to act thereon until the first exhaust opening el is uncovered to the annular section al by the passage beyond it of the vane or abutment d1. Then the exhaust opening el is uncovered as above described, the first nozzle g1 is closed to the annular section al, and opened to section a4 by the passage of the vane (Z4. opening el communicates with the annular section al, the exhaust steam therefrom is led by the connect-ing channel h1 to the second nozzle g2. rIhe further expanded steam, issuingfrom the mouth of the nozzle g2, then acts upon the vane or abutment d2 until the passage of the latter beyond the last exhaust opening e2, when the exhaust from the section a2 is carried away by the pipe h3 to the condenser or to the atmosphere.

As previously described with reference to the nozzle g1, at the moment of the annular section a2 being opened to the exhaust opening e2, the nozzle g2 is closed to the section a2 and commences its action on the vane or abutment d1, the action of the nozzle g1 commencing upon the vane or abut-ment cl3 at the same time.

In the modification shown in Figs. 3, 1 and 5, live steam passes from an axial channel g formed in the shaft c to the radial passage g3 formed in the body of the rotor and thence to a base chamber g4, from which latter originates the initial nozzle g1. The irst exhaust opening el communicates with a passage h1 in the body of the rotor, which passage leads to the base chamber g4 from which the second nozzle g2 originates. The second exhaust opening e2 communicates, by means of the radial passage h2 in the body of the rotor, with the axial exhaust chamber f formed in this case in the rotor and opening into the exhaust box or chamber z' formed by a portion b1 of a side cover of the cylindrical casing. The exhaust finally passes from the exhaust box z' through the pipe or channel h3 to a condenser or to the outer air. The vanes or abutments (Z1, (Z2, (Z3 and Z4 are formed upon or fixed to the inner circumference of the cylindrical shell of the casing Z), the side covers of which have also formed integrally with or fixed to them the bearings m in which the shaft c carrying the rotor a revolves. The connection between the main steam pipe and the axial steam passage g in the shaft ff is kept pressure-tight by means of a suitable stufng box or similar device. The action of this modification is similar to that hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, the vanes or abutments and the steam nozlVhen the exhaust with relation to each other that no annular Vsection can be open at the same time to a steam inlet and an exhaust opening, and further that the exhaust steam from any section which has just passed from the initial nozzle is carried to the second nozzle whence, after having done further work on a vane or abutment, it is carried by the final exhaust opening to a condenser or to the atmosphere.

It must be understood that, although only two nozzles and exhaust openings are shown togetherwith four vanes or abutments, I do not limit myself to this number, but that in carrying out this invention, whatever number of nozzles are employed, there must be an equal number of exhaust openings and twice the same number of vanes or abut# ments.

Although it is hereinbefore stated that the nozzles employed for the purpose of this invention are expansion nozzles, it should be understood that they need not necessarily be divergent.

Suitable means such as labyrinth packing may be provided for preventing leakage.

Suitable provision is made for the lubrication of the working parts.

Claims. Y

l. In a turbine of the type described, the combination of a casing constituting a xed member, and a rotor member arranged within the casing and forming therewith an annular channel, one of said members having vanes or abutments which divide the annular channel into sections of considerable length for the action of the steam, and the other member having expansion nozzles and exhaust openings arranged alternately, the first of said expansion nozzles conducting the live steam to a section of said annular channel to act on one of said vanes or abutments and the last exhaust opening leading from one of said sections of the annular channel to the outside of the turbine, and a connection between each of the remaining exhaust openings and the succeeding expansion nozzle to convey the steam from one section of the annular channel to the succeeding section.

2. In a turbine of the type described, the combination of a cylindrical casing member, a rotor member mounted within the casing and forming therewith achannel between the periphery of the rotor and the inner circumference of the casing, vanes or abutments on one of said members and spaced apart dividing the said channel into sections of considerable length, whereby the steam has a continued action through a large arc of rotation, expansion steam nozzles and exhaust openings in the other member, the expansion nozzles directing the steam in a substantially tangential direction from the circumference of the said member, the said vanes or abutments, the expansion steam nozzles and the exhaust openings being arranged as described whereby steam is shut off from each section of the annular channel before such section is opened to the exhaust, the first of said expansion steam nozzles admitting live steam to the said annular channel and the last exhaust opening leading from said channel to the outside of the turbine, and a connection between each remaining exhaust opening and the succeeding expansion steam nozzle for the passage of the steam, whereby the work to be done by the steam is distributed over a plurality of stages arranged around the circumference of the rotor.

3. In a turbine of the type described, the combination of a cylindrical casing member, a rotor member mounted concentrically within the casing and forming therewith an annular channel between the periphery of the rotor and the inner circumference of the cylindrical casing, vanes or abutments on one of said members and dividing the said annular channel into equal sections of considerable length, and expansion nozzles and exhaust openings in the other member, the expansion nozzles and exhaust openings being equal in number, and the number of each being one half that of the vanes or abutments, the said vanes or abutments the expansion nozzles and the exhaust openings being disposed as described, whereby when the steam is cut off from each section of the annular'channel such section is opened to the exhaust, the first of said expansion nozzles admitting the live steam to the said annular channel andthe last exhaust opening leading from the turbine, the turbine being provided with a passage connecting the exhaust opening of one section of theannular channel with the expansion nozzle discharging into the succeeding section, the said expansion nozzles being adjusted whereby the desired degree of total expansion is effected and the weight and velocity of the steam passing through each expansion nozzle is the same.

RICHARD HARRISON. Witnesses:

GORDON MELVILLE CLARK, COLIN C. M. GIBSON.

Copies of this patent may be` obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

